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Programming Linux Idle

How Do You Like Ubuntu's New Logo? (ubuntu.com) 132

Posted by EditorDavid from the circling-back dept.
Slashdot reader mmanciop reminded us that Ubuntu released a new version of its "circle of friends" logo this week (which its designer says gives it "a more contemporary look and feel.")

From the Ubuntu blog: We proudly present to you the transformation of the Circle of Friends logo for Ubuntu. The new logo isn't a revolution; rather, it's an evolution of the Circle of Friends. As you can see at the top of the post, the classic white-on-orange colour scheme hasn't changed. But the new version sports sleek lines which bind the Circle of Friends even more closely together.

While it is important to have a respectful continuity with the previous Circle of Friends, the updated version is leaner, more focused, more sophisticated. It also makes a little more sense that the heads are now inside the circle, facing each other and connecting more directly. The rectangular orange tag is a break from the conventional square or circle, as it allows for the boldness of the orange to express itself and provides a recognisable colourful mark across media. Finally, the logo moves from a tiny superscript to a large, dynamic and leading presence.

Some might wonder why we had to touch the Ubuntu logo at all. As one can imagine, it is a daunting honour to work on something so many of us have such a strong connection to. But in the end, a logo should match what it represents. Similar to how Ubuntu continues to evolve and adapt to new uses in technology, its logo should follow suit to encapsulate and reflect such ongoing change.
For comparison, here's the original logo.

Share your reactions in the comments. (For example, how do you think it compares to other logos?) Do you like it more or less than, say, the logo for Raku?
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How Do You Like Ubuntu's New Logo? More

How Do You Like Ubuntu's New Logo?

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  • But I can't tell how one version of the logo might be better than the others. It's such a subtle distinction. It's like telling users that we refactors our software's source from C++17 to C++20. Literally nobody would care.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Entrope ( 68843 )

      Version 2 is better than version 3 because the friends have their own arms in the older one. In version 3, it looks like their arms are either bound together or each friend only has an arm on one side. (Does that mean they are all right- or left-wingers?)

      • Maybe they have arm on each other other's shoulders instead of holding hands. With one arm hidden underneath the other person's like it is woven together in unity.

        Honestly it's an abstract image that is meant to represent a concept. Taking it too literally is probably a mistake.

        • Maybe they have arm on each other other's shoulders instead of holding hands.

          Placing an arm on someone's shoulder without their explicit consent is sexual harassment.

          • Maybe they have arm on each other other's shoulders instead of holding hands.

            Placing an arm on someone's shoulder without their explicit consent is sexual harassment.

            It /may/ be, depending on context, but usually not. Cute that you took the time to post that bull, though.

          • To me it looks like three people in a football huddle. It also looks a little like a lazy susan on the end of a kitchen island.

            I think the most important line of the press release is "and provides a recognisable colourful mark across media". I'm guessing they wanted a more dynamic logo that could be seen more easily in print rather than something that looked like an asterisk, dingbat, or footnote symbol.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Kokuyo ( 549451 )

            You have weird fetishes...

      • Version 2 is better than version 3 because the friends have their own arms in the older one. In version 3, it looks like their arms are either bound together or each friend only has an arm on one side. (Does that mean they are all right- or left-wingers?)

        So I know this is a tech site with nerd news, but you've never seen a sports game? Have you never seen a group of people huddle? No you don't see individual arms, and they sure as heck don't stick out in front of you like some synchronised swimmer group with synchronised broken legs.

        V1 and V2 logos were more like a bunch of IT nerds having a huddle. "OK Team let's get together, NO DON'T TOUCH ME! Human contact bad!"

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Entrope ( 68843 )

          In a huddle, arms are usually crossed over the next person's back, so it still doesn't look anything like the v3 logo -- unless maybe they are half-assing social distance.

          A huddle: https://www.istockphoto.com/ph... [istockphoto.com]
          A circle of friends: https://www.istockphoto.com/ve... [istockphoto.com]

          • Interesting choice of pictures. Normally people huddling aren't looking at the camera on the floor, and normally a circle of friends aren't acting like some bizarre cultists staring into the sky.

            Also shoulders are a thing when people aren't posing for a camera lying on the floor. Humans are wider than their heads, and you've objectively said arms are interlinked... you've done a great job of describing the logo unintentionally.

      • One signifies a 3some with bondage and the other a 3some with one arm hidden as its "doing the needful"
        I think

    • Ubuntu is famous/popular because it makes driver installation easy.

      Ubuntu is definitely not famous/popular because of their art work. Not at all. This example shows why.

      • Nah. That might be a contributing factor in getting it off the ground, along with much of the other work they did in polishing off a lot of the rough edges in a typical desktop Linux distro.

        But I'm pretty sure what really made it popular was the large, friendly, knowledgeable community on the message boards, who would actually offer friendly assistance to Linux newbies, rather than "LOL, read the manual noob!".

        I mean, even as a programmer who had dabbled in Linux off and on, it's the community and focus on

        • I don't know, I mostly don't need to use forums for Ubuntu. When I use Debian I still sometimes have to go search for some random driver (including forum searches).

        • I haven't used Linux on a desktop lately. Last time I checked most of the help was in the form of commands to run. Which works, but then you have to either go study the manual anyway to figure out what everything does, or trust running an unfamiliar command from a stranger. It would be nice if there were help on how to do things with the UI.

    • I'm surprised that it's a circle of friends. I thought it was a ball bearing ring.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Askmum ( 1038780 )
        I never new either. I just thought it was a circle with three dots. Just a cool logo. Maybe they should put more thought in marketing their logo then changing it.

  • Their new logo? Meh, whatever. I'd rather judge a company based on how they act. And right now, Canonical / Ubuntu is not acting favorably in my opinion to new potential hires.

    https://twitter.com/dmsimard/s... [twitter.com]

    • What's wrong with that? I find it rather refreshing in that it gives you a pretty good idea of the skillsets they are interested in, and lets you provide a thoughtful response in context instead of depending on you coming up with answers on the spot during an in-person interview.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by darkain ( 749283 )

        Read through it more. They want BOTH. So after the written part, which is overly lengthy, and questions a lot of things that are irrelevant to the job, they STILL have the on-the-fly answering portion and "technical" whiteboarding portion after this.

        • Read through it more. They want BOTH.

          I didn't expect that they wouldn't. What I'm saying is that they can get that information in a written interview, and use the in-person interview for questions that are more suitable for it.

          and questions a lot of things that are irrelevant to the job

          I didn't really see anything in there that was irrelevant to the job. Essentially trying to get information on your aptitudes, interests, and experience. The in-person interview will do a technical white-boarding and culture-fit. I like it, seems like a solid process.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by sconeu ( 64226 )

            My issue while reading it was that it could potentially lead to age discrimination.

            When I was in HS, there was NO computing curriculum. I graduated in 1980. How would 42 year old memories be useful here? Similarly, I graduated from college in 1984. So I'd have nothing cloudy or webby to answer those questions with.

            And to be honest, Why TF are they even asking about HS?

            • My issue while reading it was that it could potentially lead to age discrimination.

              That's a fair point. I made an implicit assumption that it's an entry-level position for someone just graduating. In which case, they don't have that much professional experience, so you ask about stuff like that.

      • What's wrong with that? I find it rather refreshing in that it gives you a pretty good idea of the skillsets they are interested in, and lets you provide a thoughtful response in context instead of depending on you coming up with answers on the spot during an in-person interview.

        Wow, you must have *way* too much time on your hands.

        Given 2 paragraphs for each answer that's 80 paragraphs of text, specific to *one* company application.

        And that's if you can answer all questions in 2 paragraphs. Things like "outline your thoughts on security in software engineering? How do you ensure your code is secure? How do you improve your security awareness" is 3 questions in one, each of which is an op-ed in itself.

        It's a seller's market right now, companies are falling over themselves looking fo

        • Wow, you must have *way* too much time on your hands.

          There's time spent on both sides, and as someone who has had to interview potential hires, I'm also thinking of the time on that end. It's not just important to fill the position, it's important to not fill the position with dead weight, and I find that time spent in the interview saves a lot of time you'd waste later if you hired the wrong person.

          It's a seller's market right now, companies are falling over themselves looking for talent.

          Yeah, they are. And it doesn't help that most applicants don't have it. Anything you can do to filter them out as quickly as possible is helping, not hurting. Tha

    • That was fun to read lol, holy fuck.

    • The idea of a written interview isn't bad, but... What a ridiculously long list of questions! If you took this seriously, you would write 10,000 words or more. Also the questions are all over the place. If you are an experienced professional, WTF do you high school activities have to do with anything?

      If I were applying, I would take the risk of telling them flat out how ridiculous this is. Tell them that an important skill is being able to prioritize. Then answer those (few) questions that are actually re

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by sconeu ( 64226 )

        If you are an experienced professional, WTF do you high school activities have to do with anything?

        Exactly. I've got over 35 years worth of professional experience. To be honest, given that, WTF do my COLLEGE activities have to do with anything?

    • I'd rather judge a company based on how they act. And right now, Canonical / Ubuntu is not acting favorably in my opinion to new potential hires.

      One thing I've learnt over the years is that the dumbfuckery in the hiring process has zero to do with how good or bad a company is to work for, or how they act in real life.

      It's kind of like all companies flip a coin as to how dumb their HR drones are. It's like there's a hiring playbook. If you don't like this application process you're likely unwittingly excluding yourself from a lot of good jobs at a lot of good companies for no reason other than not liking the process created by someone who you will ha

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dskoll ( 99328 )

      I went through the interview process with Canonical. It was the worst interview experience of my life. All of the really terrible Glassdoor reviews are spot on. Based on what I saw, they have a terrible corporate culture.

  • Cock ring (Score:5, Insightful)

    by VeryFluffyBunny ( 5037285 ) on Sunday March 20, 2022 @11:41AM (#62374365)
    Is it just me or does it look like a cock ring?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gweihir ( 88907 )

      You have a point.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by shanen ( 462549 )

        You have a point.

        A cock ring with a point? No thank you.

        "I'll be here all week, folks. Tell your neighbors, eh?"

        I think I actually looked at the next mascot logo a while back. It's the only aspect of Linux that I've been able to interest my wife in. She is remarkably hostile to any new technology. (But what bothers me is when she projects that onto other people... I think it's beginning to affect me, too.)

        Now that this story got me to look at it, I have to say I'm feeling somewhat hostile towards it. I originally thought th

        • Maybe you'll be interested in where the word ubuntu comes from & what it means? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by shanen ( 462549 )

            Knew that at some point and still don't care. What bothers me is the lack of a viable and competitive financial model for OSS, but I'm sure you don't want to get me started on the CSB thing.

        • Ubuntu means "humanity".

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by shanen ( 462549 )

            Thanks for reminding me what I still don't care about. Should I check to be sure?

            Well, my attempted joke obviously fell flat, but let me word it differently. I don't have any negative feelings about the brand name or the icon or whatever. I use Ubuntu on a couple of machines, including one that I use every day.

            But if you asked me to donate for money for a new logo, then no thank you. I don't think it is well proven that Linux can't compete and win on the path they've been following. So I should be grateful

    • Caged ball bearings (bicycle repair part).

    • Is it just me or does it look like a cock ring?

      You're not wrong.

    • I am not familiar with that - and there's no way I'm going to DDG for it.

    • Let's not condone cruelty to animals in any shape or worm. Compared to v2, the friends in the v3 circle lost their shirts. Too shy now to look at the overhead camera, they chose to stare at each other instead.

  • I don't think so.

  • If you don't like it you can still use the old logo as long as you are using an LTS release that is still supported. Desktop users will have to switch immediately.
  • The dots are now within the ring. - it's inclusive ðY I probably would not have noticed the difference had I not been prompted to compare the old logo with the new one.
    • The new logo represents bigger heads with no more individual arms holding hands. It's all about making everyone's personality (ego) fit inside a more restrictive fence (walled garden). What is missing are the dots of the heads on the outside that are not allowed in because they think different.

      The logo lost the entire point of the circle of friends and looks like a washing machine - is that on purpose?

  • The description "dated" speaks volumes, most people who do such things just ape other current styles instead of being creative. The first could be said to look like a circle of friends, but the current one is just a uninspiring and meaningless shape that signifies and connotes nothing.

  • I'm impressed (Score:3)

    by IWantMoreSpamPlease ( 571972 ) on Sunday March 20, 2022 @11:52AM (#62374399) Homepage Journal

    That someone managed to get paid for this "work"
    And given all the other issues that are far more important (bug fixes, compatibility, your awful UI) facing Ubuntu currently, I wonder why they decided to focus their energies on this. ...Probably because it was easy to do.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by shanen ( 462549 )

      Cue the alternative financial model idea. I certainly would not have donated for a project to update the logo, but if someone cared enough, they probably could have created a proposal that might attract enough donors. Maybe a $50 project that needed five $10 donors? Sounds harmless enough.

    • Re:I'm impressed (Score:5, Insightful)

      by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Sunday March 20, 2022 @02:34PM (#62374857)

      far more important (bug fixes, compatibility, your awful UI)

      A great example of three things which you don't want to have fixed by some dude who is an expert in Adobe Illustrator.

      Workers in a company are not a lumped labour resource. Just because there are problems in one are doesn't mean that by doing something different in another area you diverting resources away.

      • far more important (bug fixes, compatibility, your awful UI)

        A great example of three things which you don't want to have fixed by some dude who is an expert in Adobe Illustrator.

        Workers in a company are not a lumped labour resource. Just because there are problems in one are doesn't mean that by doing something different in another area you diverting resources away.

        An individual worker can't easily be reassigned to do something outside of their skill set (unless training, mentoring etc. is provided).

        However, every organization has a finite budget for salaries and benefits (or hiring external consultants/contractors) that is usually limited by factors such as the organization's income, other expenses, cash flow, and liquid assets. Allocating more money for graphic designers means less money is available for more programmers, unless the work of the graphic designers is

        • However, every organization has a finite budget for salaries and benefits

          An organisation also has departmental momentum and inflexibility of labour. So unless that graphic designer you pay for is a contractor working only on individual jobs at random times he's assigned to do them he's going to get paid whether he's redesigning your logo or sitting in the cake room with his thumb up his arse.

          You're going to have to come up with something more concrete if you want to make the claim that this is in any way diverting important resources from elsewhere.

  • From the v1 to the v2 logo, all three friends became white.
    And with the new v3 logo, the three white friends are no longer just holding hands but are huddled together scheming something.
    Maybe the three scheming white friends are planning the future v4 logo, which will add one more friend, and they'll shift from a circle position to a star, all 4 rotating clockwise, like the ancient hindu symbol signifying the motion of the sun.

  • Please, no. (Score:4, Funny)

    by PPH ( 736903 ) on Sunday March 20, 2022 @11:58AM (#62374425)

    I'm still trying to figure out how to respond to my wife's "How do you like my new hairstyle?" Without generating tears and/or indignation.

    • Look her in the eyes and say, "Your eyes are beautiful."

    • I'm still trying to figure out how to respond to my wife's "How do you like my new hairstyle?" Without generating tears and/or indignation.

      Hmm, you've got it easy. Mine just shows up and expects me to notice that she had some layers removed or whatever.

    • The answer is always "You look great."

      I don't even turn to look before I answer. She accuses me of not even looking, which is good because I can smile before I turn to look at what new thing she's done. That way she thinks I'm smiling because I made a joke.

  • With the old logo (or rather the v1 multicoloured logo), I understood what it depicted the first time I saw it, without anyone having to tell me.

    I'm afraid that it you won't get that same effect with the new logo: I think it might be just a little bit too abstract.
    "A molecule?" "A ball-bearing?"

    • Rotate it slightly and it looks like a face wearing a gas mask. Perhaps fitting for the times.

    • Yeah, even the initial change to monochrome (I think that came around version 10?) made it a lot more abstract.

      I really don't get why they would want to change the logo at all - the whole point of a logo is brand recognition. Change it, and you discard all the recognition you've accumulated to date.

  • So... (Score:2)

    by jd ( 1658 )

    In the new logo, the friends have been wholly absorbed and imprisoned in what appears to be a gigantic tumbler lock.

  • The first one was the best one. Not that it matters much. I care more about 32 bits support on Ubuntu. I am not very surprised the Steam Deck is running Arch and not Ubuntu.

    • Yeah, V1 is the best. The "designers" over abstract stuff in the last decade. V2 is okay because orange is probably a more mainstream color than brown, but this V3 is getting a little bit silly with its rectangular background.

    • The first one was the best one. Not that it matters much. I care more about 32 bits support on Ubuntu. I am not very surprised the Steam Deck is running Arch and not Ubuntu.

      Why do you care about 32 bit support?

      • Mostly because of old commercial video games and WINE. They need good 32 bits support.On 64 bits distros. They aren't going to be recompiled.

        Besides, i still have a couple of 32 bits laptops with Debian on them. They do the job.

        • Mostly because of old commercial video games and WINE. They need good 32 bits support.On 64 bits distros. They aren't going to be recompiled.

          Oh, you're talking about multilib. That's not going anywhere.

          Besides, i still have a couple of 32 bits laptops with Debian on them. They do the job.

          As for stuff that old, yeah you're probably going to lose support eventually.

          • Or the support is going to get uncomfortable. But still there somehow. I have seen a quite recent YouTube video of people booting a Gentoo on a 486. They cheated by compiling it on a modern machine. Even Archlinux32 claims non graphical packages work on 486. there is no more 32 bits Ubuntu since quite a while.

            Multilib on Ubuntu was in danger not that long ago. It did lead to some drama with Valve.

            • Multilib on Ubuntu was in danger not that long ago. It did lead to some drama with Valve.

              I keep thinking of dropping it on Gentoo myself, but then you're losing a lot of Wine capability, and Steam doesn't work.

  • Sigh (Score:2)

    by raynet ( 51803 )

    Does someone care? Well, Neofetch might have to update their ascii logo for Ubuntu.

  • Another logo remake that no one asked for.
  • I prefer to see the Kubuntu logo.
    Ubuntu is a great basis OS but their DE wrapper is poor.
  • I dont like it, the last one is done in the style of Microsoft. The first one is more colourful. Why did they fix it when it's not broke?

    • Why did they fix it when it's not broke?

      Because Canonical is one great not-invented-here syndrome. They rather change something that works than fix what doesn't

  • Can't see it over the Cookies wall. (Score:3)

    by waspleg ( 316038 ) on Sunday March 20, 2022 @12:30PM (#62374531) Journal

    ACCEPT OUR SPYING, there is no X, or NO, or anything else. Tab closed. I've always hated Canonical, fucking parasites.

  • Unreal (Score:4, Funny)

    by JustAnotherOldGuy ( 4145623 ) on Sunday March 20, 2022 @12:43PM (#62374587) Journal

    It's so radical and forward-thinking and cosmically different that I'm struck speechless with apathy.

  • Okay.
    You have a logo.
    Congrats.

  • Looks way too much like a washing machine now.
  • â¦back when Ubuntu was a gnarly brown Debian clone folks made much better logos than the official one.

  • I believe I can predict v.4 of the logo: http://www.clipartbest.com/cli... [clipartbest.com]

    Although it's possible they'll go with this alternative: https://www.clker.com/cliparts... [clker.com]

  • Logos is refined, evolves, changes over time. It's fine. Move along.
  • v1 was amazing. v2 was worse, and v3 is even worse. "Updating to a contemporary look and feel" = Those are the key words. Icons have been turning to shit with their color reductions and increased abstraction.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by skogs ( 628589 )

      Agreed.
      Version 1 was nice.
      Version 2 was whitewashed.
      Version 3 is softer and rounder....like a small child's toy.

  • Oh (Score:2)

    by nagora ( 177841 )

    Is that what it's supposed to be? I didn't know, and I don't care anyway. It's just a logo.

  • It's not different enough to really justify itself. I mainly see yet another example of the modern "simple uber alles" graphic design movement. The simplifications done here rob it of clarity and symbolism. It is devolving into a banal geometric shape arrangement.

  • That is when I understood the magical meaning of the circle. If you go away from a row, you can still come back into it. A row is an open formation. But a circle closes up, and if you go away from it, there is no way back. It is not by chance that the planets move in circles and that a rock coming loose from one of them goes inexorably away, carried off by centrifugal force. Like a meteorite broken off from a planet, I left the circle and have not stopped falling. Some people are granted their death as they

  • I think the new one is fine. A bit simpler, but still conveys the same abstract idea. The "heads" are big enough so that it doesn't simply become "orange circle". All in all, not bad at all.

  • Now, if only they could supply video drivers that will display it on all systems.

  • Their new mascot will be Gollum.

  • Instead of wasting time with a new logo, they could instead get rid of that snap crapware. What is next? Systemd v2?
  • When researching a product in this case a OS is the logo really a matter of interest?

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